Design Wall Monday

I guess I am on summer vacation from quilting. 

Not much sewing machine action has been happening.

I did make myself another pair of pants.

 I've tweaked the pattern just a little tiny bit more.

I also cut out another pattern for woven fabrics.

I'll test that out on some pajama pants.

In the meantime,

I discovered this great bin in the school supply isle at Walmart.

(Really Crystal told me about it.)

It is perfect to hold all of my Mischief Quilt parts and pieces.

I've only sewed this much on the next rosette in the last 2 weeks.

Now it's front and center to take to the beach for outside stitching on nice days.

I've also been hanging out with these people.

Too bad the other boys weren't around for a picture.

I love that Stellie (middle) idolizes Mae (left) and 

that Corbin is her cousin, not her friend! 

But really he is her friend too. 

The workings of a 5 year old mind!!

I'm hoping to spend some time in front of my sewing machine over the next couple of days.

Then it's back to the beach for us. 

We have some fence to build.

Check out all the fabulous design walls at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Enjoy your summer!

We Worked, We Played, We Ate!

We spent most of last week at the beach with Crystal, Mike, Elliot, Clella, Leland and Corbin.

It was their first time tent camping.

I'm not sure about Mike though, he may be a seasoned camper.

Growing up, Crystal camped a lot in a travel trailer.

We never tent camped.

But after seeing Dee's tent set up, 

she went home and order one for their family.

Camping was a HUGE success!

We laughed and talked and laughed some more.

I don't know if anyone was ever hungry because we had so much good food.

Smores every night.

And because we could, 

one day we had them after breakfast.

We played on the beach.

Kids and dogs ran and ran and ran.

Parents and Grandparents enjoyed the laughter

and the exhausted kids and dogs.

We worked.

See that bamboo in the background?
We found out that belongs to us.

The guy we bought the place from planted it as a privacy barrier 

then built his fence on the back side thinking the owner of the trailer would take care of it for him.

Kind of a big jerk move!

We don't want it,

we want our fence on the property line

and will plant our own privacy barrier.

It will not be bamboo.

It was a huge project to get that stuff cut down.

Weed killer went into the root system.

We had some of it down last time we were there

and saw no sign of any new growth.

We are crossing our fingers that holds true for the remaining root system.

There is always another project for our next trip.

I bet it's a new fence!

Thanks to Mike and the kiddos for all your hard work helping Poppy.

Firepit brush burning is our new favorite pastime.

😏😉😏😉😏

Yeah For Pants!

 

 My Jacole skinny pants are done! 

Yeah for pants that fit!!

There will be modifications.

I will never try to topstitch a pocket with 5 layers of fabric with the coverstitch machine.

It was a mess.

But I fixed it and used my sewing machine.

Modification #1...I do not like this patch pocket.

I feel like it is down to my knees but it isn't.

I prefer a nice little pocket inside.

I can make that happen.

This is how I hem...pants and shirts.

I serge the seams, then press up the hem, press on fusible tape.

I serge around the bottom for a clean finish.

I clip the seam being careful not to clip too far.

Then twist the seam. 

Remove the paper, press and topstitch.

Other modifications:

#2-shorten the hem by 3"

#3-lengthen the back rise on the pattern paper

#4-shorten the front rise

(I have a weird shaped body!!)
Oh and I used  drawcord elastic in the waist.

I'm unsure of using just the band. 

I need the security of elastic-old school I guess.

I wore them all afternoon and evening.

They were so comfy!

I have a nice selection of pants fabric from Knitpop.

I'll be cutting another pair today.

Yeah for pants!

Design Wall Monday

This is not a quilt related post,

it's a sewing pants post.

I'm making myself pants! 

It's been a struggle all my sewing years to make pants that fit me.

I get frustrated and give up way too soon.

(Quilting is so much easier!)

I was determined to make it work this time.

So after research and talking to my daughter who sews lots more clothes that I do,

I decided to try the Jacole Skinny Pants pattern.

I started out Sunday morning taping the pattern together in my outdoor office.

Then I got a phone call asking me if the kiddos could hang out with us while 

their parents went on a date.

Uhhh, yeah!

So this girl and her 3 brothers spent the day with us.

So much activity and talking and laughing and planning.

I loved almost every minute of it,

I do not like having to bandage up war wounds.

After they went home and I recouped,

I decided to cut out my pattern with some Ponte I bought from Knitpop.

Then I basted them together and tried them on.

I was almost in tears with how happy I was with the fit.

I only need a little adjusting for my big hinnie,

other than that, perfection.

I'm a happy sewer.

Today I get to play with the serger and coverstitch machine and

will finish them and cut out another pair or 7.

Yes, I have that many knits earmarked for pants.

Long pants, and caprices.

When will I go back to quilting?
I'm not sure.

I'm too pumped about new pants right now.

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It's Funny How Time Slips Away

Not really funny, more like fun!

Blogging will happen when it happens. 

I've said before I am not a good passenger so I knit.

They are my passenger seat knitting project.

They are called Meandering Vine Socks.

I'm to the heel flap.

The whole heel has to be done at home,

I'll get to the mindless foot part before we leave again.

Before leaving home, I cut all of the border pieces for Midnight Flight.

The first couple of evenings, I marked the squares for the flippy corners.

And one afternoon, I sewed one half of the chevrons.

Then over a few days, I trimmed all of them

and after everyone left, I got out the iron and pressed them all.

During my sewing time, 

I couldn't find Jessie.

He had made himself a pillow fort. 

Silly little dog!

While I was sewing,

Ernie replaced the boards on this deck.

Most of the time it was a one man show.

One day he washed the bus.

My job was to watch the fire.

I'm good at my job.

We had lots of company!

Saturday evening, Dee, Vern and Taylor came to camp for a few days.

On Sunday Crystal and her kiddos came to spend the day with us.

She came home and ordered their own camping supplies. 

They will be our next camping guests.

This melts my heart!

I love being surrounded by my family.

I have a feeling this is going to be the perfect summer!

Smores and smiles are mandatory!

As are photo bombers!

There was a whole lot of love happening at the beach!

A perfect 4th of July campout!

Unless you were a dog.

We didn't go to the beach to watch the fireworks.

We stayed at the bus with the poor, terrified dogs. 

From the sound of it, it was a pretty spectacular show.

The landscape is changing at the beach property.

Lots of trimming and clearing is happening.

Bamboo is not our friend.

We tried to figure out why the previous owners did things the way they did.

Our conclusion is each to his own.

We'll fix it how we want it now.